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Saving Special Places
Everglades Restoration Initiative

	Other Everglades Restoration Resources
	South Florida Information Access
	Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)
	South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force
	Water Atlas of Florida
	Everglades Information Network
	SFWMD/ USACE Kissimmee River Restoration Project

One of Audubon of Florida’s most significant contributions to Florida conservation has been our ongoing involvement in the restoration of the Everglades ecosystem. Our strategies include:

• Restore the Kissimmee River
  Between 1962 and 1971, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) channeled the Kissimmee River and created a 30-foot deep, 300-foot wide, 56 mile long drainage canal (C-38). This project converted 44% of the floodplain to pasture, draining approximately 31,000 acres of wetlands. Before channelization, the river was a haven for wildlife, including at least 39 species of fish and 38 species of water birds. River restoration will improve water quality for the Everglades, increase water storage capacity and allow the return of the river’s once-abundant wildlife.
• Heal Lake Okeechobee
  Lake Okeechobee was the historical gatekeeper between the watershed from the north and the Everglades to its south. At times of high water, the lake would overflow its southern boundary, replenishing the Everglades with freshwater. At times of low water, the flow would stop, allowing the ‘glades to dry seasonally. The system no longer functions in this way. Water is artificially shunted in different directions at unnatural times of year, and the quality of that water is far poorer. In recent years, Lake Okeechobee has suffered from hurricane-deepened water levels and intense water quality problems, and has been forced to discharge harmful pulses of freshwater to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. The symptoms are clear-- water management in South Florida isn't working for the lake—and Everglades restoration depends on the fate of the Lake.
• Ensure Water Quantity for the Everglades
  There is every indication that Everglades restoration will be a reality in our lifetime. Once restored, however, what will prevent the future degradation of this national treasure? To combat this future threat, the Everglades must be protected from the potentially devastating demands of growing urban populations. We must maintain a balance, and share in adversity. Once a balance is struck, it must be maintained. There must be assurances that, once restored, the Everglades will not be sacrificed to shortsighted, short-term solutions to the foreseeable problems of competing water needs and inequitable water distribution.
• Ensure Water Quality: Urban and Agricultural Pollution in the Northern Everglades
  Long term planning for the Everglades Agricultural Area must take place. Florida leaders must begin long term planning for the future of the EAA after the sugar industry is gone. Failing such planning, the future environmental impacts of this area could be even worse than the problems caused by agriculture. Real estate development for urban uses could sweep across the EAA – spelling final doom for Everglades water quality.
• Restore Water Flows to the Southern Everglades
  Starting in the late 1800’s humans began to try and "tame" South Florida. Presently there are over 1000 miles of canals that drain water from the historic Everglades, and push this water into coastal estuaries and the Gulf of Mexico. These actions have had devastating results on the South Florida ecology. Much of the remaining Everglades receive too little water, while others receive far too much water because they are used as stormwater dumping areas. The tropical estuaries are being flooded with too much freshwater, completely disrupting the ecology of these important fish nurseries.
• Safeguard Southwest Florida and the Big Cypress
  With one of the fastest growing human populations in the country, Southwest Florida is threatened by habitat destruction, mis-management of water resources, and conflicting local and regional land use decisions. While several public lands in Southwest Florida are protected (e.g., Ten Thousand Islands, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuges, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, Collier-Seminole State Park, Picayune Strand State Forest), they depend on key areas that are in private ownership and remain vulnerable: the fate of Southwest Florida’s natural ecosystems is dependent on these critical areas.
• Restore Florida Bay and the Keys Ecosystem
  At the end of the Everglades system lie Florida Bay and the Keys Ecosystem. They function as nurseries for Roseate Spoonbills and our sport- and commercial fisheries. They provide critical stopover habitat for neotropical migratory songbirds. Elaborate tree snails climb in the tropical hammocks and manatees feed on seagrasses in the Bay. Audubon’s Tavernier Science Center has applied itself to the conservation of Florida Bay for nearly a century and our Keys Environmental Restoration Fund seeks to save and restore the last remnants of this once wild area.